SC to probe alleged 'narco-judges'

The Supreme Court on Tuesday said it will be conducting a probe into judges suspected of having links to the illegal narcotics trade.

SC Public Information Office chief Brian Keith Hosaka said that the SC en banc, in its first summer session for 2019, has tapped Associate Justice Diosdado Peralta to “coordinate and communicate directly with the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency for the list of judges allegedly linked to the illegal drug trade.”

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency Director Aaron Aquino said that there are 13 judges and 10 prosecutors included in the list of personalities suspected to have links with narcotics trade.

Aquino, however, said that they would not be releasing their names since their validation efforts are focused on case buildup against the 46 politicians who are said to have been named as respondents in administrative cases at the Office of the Ombudsman.

The STAR has earlier reported that SC officials said that they have requested the names of the supposed narco-judges on the list, but the PDEA refused to divulge information.

Hosaka said that tapping Bersamin as point person for the anti-narcotics agency would pave the way for the SC’s fact-finding and administrative investigation into personalities.

“The Supreme Court, like in the past, will and shall not tolerate any illegal or corrupt activities within its ranks,” the SC PIO added.

In 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte read out a list of supposed personalities linked to the drug trade who included judges. This prompted Maria Lourdes Sereno, chief justice at the time, to write a letter to Duterte, saying that the disclosure of the judges’ name was premature.

The SC conducted its own factfinding investigation into the local judges and cleared three of them.

DOJ: PROBE INTO PROSECUTORS

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevara had earlier said that if evidence is found to prove that state prosecutors are involved in the illegal drug trade, he would personally lead the fact-finding investigation into them.

“Once identified and there’s scintilla of evidence, I myself will lead the investigation against them. That (involvement of prosecutors in illegal drug trade) is just unacceptable,” Guevarra said.

The Justice chief also said that his office would coordinate with the PDEA for a parallel investigation, to be carried out by the National Bureau of Investigation.